Sailing out of Dubrovnik was beautiful, we try & sit in the Skywalkers Bar as it is the tallest bar on the ship and at the back so the panorama is great. Also as frequent sailors!!! we have complimentary drinks & savouries for a couple of hours so a good way to socialise! Dinner at night is fun, we are at a table for 8 which includes our friends from NZ and two couples from Macclesfield in Cheshire. Have talked about our few days staying with the Grahams in Prestbury back in the early '
90's. Also discovered the Crooners lounge and the entertainment is by a fantastic singer from Manchester. There is never a dull moment, just not enough time to take it all in and of course this cruise is full on with many exciting places to visit each day.
Yesterday (Sunday) we were in Corfu. Jenny & Angus shared a taxi with us for 3 hours to travel around part of the island. Lots of gorgeous beaches, deep blue water & amazing views from the mountains. We have met some terrific people from all over and have invited a couple from Missouri to our stateroom for a drink tonight. George has enough grog on the shelf to supply the ship - but then guess it has to last another 3 weeks!!
Today we are in Olympia - have just walked all around the ancient site of the first Olympics. Quite amazing to think it is all so old & even though we all know the original games were for men only, I hadn't realised that they performed in the nude!!! George is visiting a couple of museums while I write this and it an opportunity for a quick rest.
Beverley, seriously, you are just not doing enough for out team!!! How dare those BNE thugs beat us by 8 points??? And I have to suffer the smirks of the Geelong supporters on this trip!
Hope all my family are well. Patricia, please tell Molly we are fine and my foot not giving me any trouble.

boarded ship and had a lazy day and nice dinner at night. Sailed from Venice 1pm yesterday, Venice looked stunning as we left, picked out our hotel along the canal. Lots of people everywhere, can,t imagine how it would be in the summer. Hope you had a great birthday JAN K. Arrived here in Dubrovnik this morning & now at an internet cafe so time limited. It was raining but now quite warm & steamy. Dubrovnik just as picturesque as we remember it from 1984. Will be in Corfu tomorrow. Everything on the ship is really nice, but too much food as you would expect. Will update when possible.

Today we are boarding the ship - hooray - though it will be sad to leave Venice in a way. We do stay the night but on the ship so could really still do some exploring but I think that is a dream.
Last night G & I found a lovely little restaurant & afterwards walked into St Marks square as we'd heard that it had flooded the night before. Sure enough it was flooding again. Apparently this happens very infrequently but in certain conditions like weather & high tide. We stood there watching people walk through the water & an elderly couple were approaching us both with their pants rolled up, she with her stockings still on! We smiled at them then I said 'you are brave, and still wearing your hose'. She laughed & said 'we've been to Venice 5 times & never seen this & we always wanted to walk through the water'. After talking for a while she told us she'd worked for Qantas years ago in Frankfurt, (is German), married to a Swiss & they live in Zurich. Then we discovered they'd been to almost all the IBA conference we had attended, including Melbourne! How coincidental. Their names are Charlotte & Andreas Froriep, he is a tax lawyer, & at early 80's still goes to the office everyday. Beverley & the Goldsteins may recall the name.

Another lovely day in Venice. Weather is really warm but always a breeze when you get near the open canal. We had a tour of the Astronomical Clock today - Michael S you would have been impressed! This clock tower was consructed in the 13th century & has had a few changes over the years but the mechanism is amazing. At the very top we had a beautiful view over Venice. I enjoyed the afternoon browsing through the shops in all the little alleyways - there is so much to look at and things seem very expensive generally. I spent an hour travelling around the canal in the vaporetto (water bus) which was fun then joined the queue to go into St Mark's Basilica. At 10am the queue was hundreds of metres long but later in the day it is quite short. The Basilica is grand but probably not as nice as some we have seen in other countries. Jenny & Angus joined us on our balcony for a drink as we watched the Chrystal Serenity sail past, and they have now gone to a Vivaldi concert. We will have dinner then hopefully catch up with Margaret & Graeme Henshaw who are flying in from Berlin tonight. Their hotel is just along from our hotel. Tomorrow we board our ship, the Crown Princess but we don't sail until 1pm the next day so still have another 24 hours in Venice. We can't wait to hang our clothes for 27 nights.

Forgot to mention yesterday that the old priest at Mass in the Cathedral in Amalfi made Fr Bob Maguire look like a young lad!!! He must have been Molly's age!!!
We had a long trip by train yesterday - After a stunning bus trip from Amalfi to Salerno we were to leave for Rome shortly afterwards but our train was about an hour late. As a result we only had a few minutes to make our connection in Rome and you've never seen four people run so fast - of course we were in the last carriage and had to go to the last carriage on a different platform. Have decided train travel is really lovely but difficult with a lot of luggage. And we always carry too much. The trip itself was fabulous, enjoyed the rolling hills of Tuscany, had my first and quickest visit to Florence, Bologna & Padua then arrived into Venice around 6pm. After a quick freshen up we walked along the canal to a nice restaurant then had an early night.
Today we have been to the Ducale Palace, had a trip called the 'Secret Tour' which was interesting - we even saw where Casanova spen several years in prison & from which he escaped eventually. Then a boat ride along the grand canal & a nice lunch. George continued on to a few more museums but I took the easy way home along the port area - saw lots of cruise ships. Tomorrow we go to the Astronomical Clock - apparently you can see the whole of Venice from the tower.

The Amalfi Coast still continues to amaze with it,s beauty. This morning G & I left the hotel at 8.45 & decided to call in to the Duomo but no service on until 10am so we sat there for a while & then heard singing from somewhere so went down stairs & found all the locals (about 30 of them!) at Mass. So, of course we joined in & it was really nice. Then went to Positano on the bus, what a fabulous trip. Walked down many steps to the beach & found had lunch at a terrific restaurant. Came back via Sorrento. I think G is very tired tonight - maybe jet lag is still around! Or a black cat walked in front of him.
Tomorrow we leave for Venice - taking the bus from Amalfi to Salerno then train to Rome and on to Venice. A long day but trains are quite comfortable & at least we don,t have to back via Sorrento and Naples.

Another perfect day in Amalfi - George has finally gone off to Pompeii having attempted to do so 2 days ago and then getting lost!!! Jenny & Angus are in Positano & I,m holding the fort, having a day in the sun. Yesterday we went to Capri. Thought it a bit jaded, too many tourists like ourselves & very expensive shops. Of course the boat ride over there was fun & we had a storm on the way back so got a tad wet sitting on the top deck.
Eating out has been great, no doubt the Italians know how to dish up a good pasta!
Now, Beverley, what happened to our team? Weren,t you there barracking? I was sure you wouldn,t let me down. Wonder if we are still on top of the ladder.
Great news from Diana - she has been called to Disney & will leave Aust June 1 and start training in Barcelona. She boards the Disney Magic on June 5, her birthday, so a nice little present!!! Great for her but we won,t get to see her before she leaves.

Arrived in Amalfi yesterday by ferry from Sorrento via Positano. Absolutely beautiful scenery & most enjoyable way to travel. Our hotel in Amalfi is right on the water & we have a very large balcony with great views. Spent the day relaxing, lunching, checking out the little alleyways etc. Dinner was at a very nice fish restaurant. Went to Ravello on the hop-on hop-off bus today, went to amazing gardens and had coffee in the square before returning to take another little trip to Minori & Maiori. All just too spectacular for words - the winding roads have to be seen to be believed! May go to Capri tomorrow and will definitely take a trip to Positano. More later.

I,ts Tuesday here in Sorrento and we,ve had a fantastic day. Weather perfect, around 24C. We decided to take a tour on the Hop on Hop off bus and it turned out to be a great idea. The tour was for one and half hours and we went to Sant, Agnello, Massa Lubrense, Termini, Sant, Agata sui due Golfi etc. Viewed the Isle of Capri and Vesuvius and all the orange and olive groves. Absolutely worth while. Back in town we had lunch at the port of Sorrento then took a little trolley ride around all the laneways. We just love Sorrento and can,t imagine a nicer place to be. This keyboard is Italian and everything is in the wrong place including apostrophes! Tomorrow we leave for Amalfi and have decided to go by ferry. It should be a great way to arrive.
Welcome home from Fiji Caro, hope all went well.

Arrived Rome airport on time after very nice flight from BKK. Managed quite a few hours sleep and felt refreshed after the heat of Thailand. Now in Sorrento after a three train journey - quite a feat wheeling all that luggage from train to train, up and down stairs and escalators. Not a trip for the faint hearted. Rona, you would have hated it and needed a limo!!!!! The train journey was really terrific, though, and provided us with a very beautiful view of the countryside. Some of you will have been to Sorrento and I have to say, it lives up to expectations. We are all pretty tired after having lunch then a long walk along the narrow laneways of fabulous shops, stopping for the odd tasting of Limonchillo. Weather is perfect, sunny and about 21C.
I am having trouble accessing my email at adam.com.au so if anyone needs to send an email I do have another address which is mjswinburne@gmail.com Not sure why it doesn,t work but I think I had a problem last time we were overseas.

Spent today in at the Novotel in Bangkok. Met up with Jenny & Angus from NZ who are travelling with us for the next 3 weeks. It's very hot so after a sleep we spent most of the day by the pool then had a beautiful seafood buffet at the hotel before coming to the airport for our flight to Rome. It leaves just after midnight so by the time we get to Sorrento by train from Rome we'll be well & truly you know what!
The city of Bangkok is in turmoil so just as well we weren't planning a big shopping expedition!
For some reason I'm unable to access my Adam internet site but should be able to do so in the next couple of days. Am using the computer in the Thai lounge so can't do much about it.
Hope all is well at home.

Now at the airport enjoying a snack in the Air NZ lounge which caters for Thai passengers. George glued to the TV as Geelong are playing Brisbane & winning comfortably. Hope they wear themselves out for the big game next week. Flight departs at 11.30 so quite a while to wait. More later, M.

Haven't left yet but just had to comment on the fantastic win by the mighty Pies tonight. 'Some of little faith' in this household mentioned a walkover by Freo and something about snakes eating the Pies alive but as I noted after the game the Freo boys (in the locker room) were actually eating coloured snakes. This will mean zilch to non football followers and for that I apologise. But a win is a win!!

Looking forward to our week on the Amalfi Coast followed by a 27 night cruise